Mega Happy Ending
by wildemoon
Summary: It's not a completely mega happy ending, but it's the closest an evil scientist will ever come. HET - Billy/Penny


Name: Mega Happy Ending Author: Elizabeth Wilde ()  
>Fandom: Dr. Horrible Pairing: BillyPenny Rating: PG-13 (possibly disturbing themes)  
>Summary: It's not a completely mega happy ending, but it's the closest an evil scientist will ever come.<br>Disclaimer: I don't own Dr. Horrible or any of the chars from it. Joss does... that brilliant, lucky bastard! I also don't own the concept of the "Mega Happy Ending," which belongs to whoever owns Wayne's World. Probably Mike Myers. Also a brilliant, lucky bastard!  
>Completed: 9-10-08<p>Bad Horse had cautioned him about how many great villains ruined perfectly promising careers thanks to love. Dead Bowie had almost left the ELE for a boyfriend or a girlfriend or - well, with all the androgyny, it was hard to tell, but for SOMETHING. Thankfully Dead Bowie had also been the one who backed him up when he pointed out that bringing people back from the dead was not only evil, not only appropriate for someone with a degree in Horribleness, but a great cost saving measure. After that, the League had been on board and willing to give him some extra time to work as well as access to the doctors on retainer.<p>

It was surprising how easy it was to repair all the damage after the fact. Dr. Horrible tried to keep himself from thinking too much about how things might have been different if the doctors had been there at the time, if they'd gotten there in time to- but they hadn't. He watched, feeling vaguely sick as they pulled and sewed and mended flesh that no longer yielded properly to such ministrations. Though he didn't let it show, Dr. Horrible couldn't help but be a bit paranoid. It wouldn't do to have people thinking he was squeamish about a little blood... guts. He sucked in a sharp breath and kept his face stony, impassive.

It was a week before Moist would come over to his house again. It took him that long to get up the courage to get close enough to bring a sheet up and over the stasis tank. Despite him trying over and over to tell Moist it was just like a bacta tank, Moist had protested quietly that Luke hadn't been dead when he was in the bacta tank. That had pretty much stopped any arguments that Billy had. But once the sheet was in place, Moist reluctantly returned, though he constantly threw accusing glances at the tank as if he expected that it was plotting against him.

Dr. Horrible wouldn't admit to anything like that. Billy sometimes had trouble sleeping at night, though. Sometimes he would watch the tank. Sometimes he understood exactly what Moist was thinking.

Even Moist had to admit that things were looking up. "So, the frog's, like, fine," he observed, poking the creature's slimy back with apparent amazement.

Dr. Horrible stood up straighter and smiled his most victorious smile. "Of course it's fine! I'm Dr. Hor-"

"Yeah, but it's still pretty cool." Moist poked the frog one more time and then glanced at the sheet-covered tank. "So... you gonna... y'know..."

Billy was back in an instant, looking at once hopeful and frightened. "Not yet. I want to try something bigger first. A dog, maybe? Or a cat or something."

"Not exactly horrible bringing back some kid's dead pet," Moist pointed out, though he didn't really seem too troubled by the idea.

"Well, no, but it's in the name of horrible works to come."

Moist nodded sagely. "Ri-ight. Yeah. I knew that."

That cat was fine. Dr. Horrible had claimed the body from a shelter only moments after it was put to sleep. Now it was curled up on his lap purring and getting little white hairs all over his red lab coat. He didn't really mind much. It was cute. Its name was Bubbles. He'd let Moist name it. The tank that had been its salvation still sat on one of the tables nearby. After all, Billy had grown attached to the little guy. If anything happened, he wanted easy access to the proper equipment.

The chemicals had to be mixed perfectly. Billy cast a glance up at Moist. He almost wished he could ask his henchman to help, but considering his, er, abilities, handing Moist slick glass objects was rarely a good idea. So he steadily, carefully measured everything out himself. He had spent three days just checking the calculations, going over them until the numbers danced through his head as he attempted to sleep.

Billy's fingers shook when he finally set down the last vial. He stared at the purple liquid swirling in the beaker. It was pretty, actually. Very pretty. Swallowing, he steadied himself and lifted the mixture. He wasn't wearing his lab coat. Moist had noticed, but he hadn't said anything. Billy had picked it up that morning. It lay with his goggles not far away, untouched and forgotten for the moment.

"Moist-"

But before the word was even out of his mouth, Moist was heading for the door. "You should do this alone," he broke in with a hint of a smile. At the threshold, he paused for a second. "Y'know, even if it doesn't work... it was still the right thing."

They usually tried not to talk about the right thing. Villains weren't supposed to do the right thing, after all. They were supposed to bring anarchy, to wreak havoc, to throw the world on its head. But Billy still smiled tightly and nodded as he swallowed around the lump in his throat. "Yeah." Once Moist was gone, he allowed himself to walk over to the tank and pull away the sheet.

Penny floated there looking unnaturally beautiful. She was as pale as the sheet that had covered the tank, her lips a strange shade of purple-pink that didn't occur in nature. Not in living things, anyway. Still she was beautiful. She wore a simple white dress because Billy had insisted that the doctors keep her covered, decent. He didn't want to see her like that, not without her permission. It wouldn't be right.

Realizing he was staring and not working, Billy climbed up onto the small scaffolding next to the tank and poured the entire contents of the beaker into the water. For a moment the purple mixed and mingled and finally dissipated altogether, leaving the water tinted faintly lavender. It had taken almost a half hour with Bubbles. He had no idea how long it would take for Penny.

Billy zipped his sweatshirt up a little higher as if to ward off a chill and sat down on the scaffolding to wait.

It wasn't going to work. Billy swallowed and blinked away tears. He hadn't cried in... well, okay, it had only been a few hours, but he was under a lot of stress. This was important. If he failed, Bad Horse would be furious at the time wasted. Not to mention... well, failure wasn't an option. It had to work.

He pressed a hand flat to the cool glass as if he could feel the strands of hair floating loose around Penny's face. "You can *do* this." His voice almost broke as he added, "You have to."

It was selfish. He knew it was selfish. Maybe she deserved some kind of peace. She certainly deserved better than a second rate villain who had been more than a little responsible for her death. Dr. Horrible could rant about Captain Hammer killing her all he wanted. Billy knew that he had made the death ray.

"Please, Penny," he pleaded with the silent, stoic figure in the tank. "I didn't mean to-"

The water had rippled. Billy's gaze tried to take in everything at once, checking Penny's fingers, her toes, trying to find the source of the motion. Just as he was giving it up as a hallucination, one finger flicked again. It was the tiniest of twitches, but to him it was everything. It was hope.

Billy was no longer seated on the cool metal. He crouched there, both hands on the glass, every ounce of his being pouring into giving Penny the will to fight and claw her way back from the darkness. The moment he saw her eyelids begin to raise, he was reaching into the bracing water. It wasn't cold exactly, but cool enough to take his breath as he plunged himself half into it to take hold of hands that were suddenly clawing frantically at the liquid. He felt her fingers closing around his drenched arms and pulled with every bit of strength he had.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to get her up and over the lip of the glass, where Penny herself took over some of the burden, freeing one hand to help herself up and over. She sat shivering and silent next to him on the scaffold. They were both quiet for a moment, staring at each other almost fearfully.

Bubbles was fine. Billy reminded himself of that over and over in those moments. But he had never known the cat before its resurrection. For all he knew the cat had been a genius painter and had only been relegated to the role of proper house cat due to brain damage. It was possible. Anything was possible.

"Penny?" he finally ventured, weak with worry, hands shaking once again as he suppressed the urge to reach out and touch her just to be sure there was really blood flowing through the skin under her pale cheeks.

She blinked once and let out a long, slow breath. "Billy?" The young woman looked down at herself, at the sopping wet dress, around at the lab that surrounded them. "Doctor..." It seemed to all come together in that moment, and she put a hand to her stomach, wincing at the feeling of the stitches through the dress.

"It's okay," Billy assured hurriedly, his hand darting out to cover hers. "They'll heal. They will. I promise." Seeing her eyes on him once again, he jerked his hand away. Billy's gaze lowered to his lap and he clasped his hands tightly there. He didn't deserve to touch her. "I'm sorry."

Penny took another shaky breath and nodded slowly. "Do you have a shirt I can borrow?"

The sweat pants didn't work without cinching the drawstring up a ridiculous amount, but they were staying on. The old Buffy t-shirt looked adorable on her despite how embarrassed Billy had been when she found it in his drawer. "Better," Penny proclaimed. She sounded it. She looked it. There was a gentle blush of color on her cheeks, and her dark eyes were shining.

"Penny, I-"

She put a finger gently to his lips. "I know. I know you are, but it's... it's okay. It is. I'm okay. I'm okay because of you."

"You were hurt because-"

"Because of Dr. Horrible. Because of Captain Hammer," she added gently.

Billy sighed, visibly frustrated. He had shed his own sopping clothes for another pair of sweat pants and a shirt with a cartoon version of Bad Horse on the front. "But I *am* Dr. Horrible. I did-"

"No." The word left no room for argument. "You're Billy. I don't know why it's different, but it is. It is." Penny sank down onto the futon in one corner that served as both bed and couch for the budding villain. "I didn't have frozen yogurt with Dr. Horrible. I had it with you. I didn't-" She seemed to grasp for the right words for a moment. "Do you feel horrible right now?"

Still frowning, Billy sat down on the futon. "I..." He paused and seemed to think that through for a moment. "No." He looked surprised but not necessarily displeased by the revelation.

"You're Billy," Penny said more firmly. "You're you. You're my friend." She offered a hopeful little smile and reached out for Billy's hand, her smile widening when she found it "We'll figure the rest out later."

THE END 


End file.
